


At Seventeen

by spectacle_street



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bob and Miriam Pataki's A+ Parenting, Chapters may include corresponding songs, Comedy, Depression, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt, F/F, F/M, Fair warning!, Gen, Growing Up, I confess that I am playing fast and loooooose with writing styles, I'm Bad At Tagging, Inspired by Music, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Mystery, Neglect, Not Fully Canon Compliant, POV Helga Pataki, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sad with a hopeful ending], Self-Esteem Issues, Teenage Dorks, Teenage Drama, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Warnings May Change, a song, an exercise in writing after not writing for a long time (a long ass time), how do I tag this?, i call this, i make no apologies, i mean i loved it but it just doesnt fit into my narrative, no jungle movie, the current title is in fact, title may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23635825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spectacle_street/pseuds/spectacle_street
Summary: I learned the truth at seventeen,That love was meant for beauty queens.And high school girls with clear-skinned smiles,Who married young and then retired.At Seventeen (Janis Ian)Helga almost started her junior year covered in drywall. Her newly renovated high school already falling apart, she and the other students are distributed around the city to unused neighborhood schools. For Helga, it is a return to a familiar setting once relegated to childhood memories, stirring up old and uncomfortable feelings. Conflicted, Helga can't decide between embracing or ignoring them. One thing is for sure, this year will be a turning point in more ways than one.
Relationships: Helga Pataki/Arnold Shortman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Social distancing ended my semester early (more or less), so I get to use all of this free time to ignore my online classes and write fanfiction for the first time in several years. 
> 
> Helga has remained one of my favorite cartoon characters for her complexity and her distinct personality and I want to play with that. It's been a long time since I've written anything that isn't academic papers and I feel like I'm definitely playing fast and loose with writing styles. 
> 
> Fair warning, this story will deal with serious topics, including childhood neglect, emotional abuse, and depression. This is a work in progress so if anything new comes up that needs a content warning I will include a new one!

**[A flash, a series of newspaper headlines, digital and print, start running]**

_ PS 121 set to receive major renovations,  _

_ school administration optimistic about timeline. _

_ Renovations at PS 121 on hold,  _

_ reasons undisclosed as of yet, city residents are curious.  _

_ Administration says PS 121 renovations set to resume, _

_ citing setbacks were due to renegotiating contract with building company.  _

_ Students, parents, and teachers looking forward to new and improved PS 121,  _

_ Named now after Hillwood education pioneers. Harold Bachman and Leanne Errole. _

**[Cut to a clip from a news channel, a youthful man in a suit is seated at a desk in a newsroom, talking to the camera]**

[Del] “Now to Carol and Jim, who are presiding over a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Hillwood High School-- ol’ PS 121 sure looks good, how is it going down there?”

**[Carol and Jim appear on the screen, two cheerful-looking reporters standing next to each other in a parking lot]**

[Carol] “Hey Del, the dog days are almost over and school days are right on its heels. Mayor Reed is presiding over quite the crowd today…”

[Jim] “Indeed he is. Now we’ve been on the hunt for some student voices today to see what they think of the new school which you can see right behind us!” 

PS 121 is unquestionably a sprawling display of modernity, with large glass windows and brightly colored walls. Walls curve, there is a glass structure on the top of the building that may be a greenhouse. The building is eye-catching and the mayor is standing right in front of the entrance with the district’s superintendent, several more administrators, and the new school principal. Above them in large silver lettering are the words, “Bachman-Errole High School.” In smaller print, below that is a single line: “PS 121.” There is a crowd milling about several feet away and the reporters are standing in a clear spot within it.

[Jim] “Ah-- I see someone over here who might be able to offer some student perspective-- Yes! Miss Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd (bring the camera over here!), how are you, how are you?” Jim beckons the camera over to a teenage girl with black, wavy hair that falls just below her chin, held partially back by a red headband. She is well-to-do at a glance and also appears disinterested in what is going on beyond the message she is typing out on her phone until Jim and Carol engage. She speaks purposefully and with training. 

[Rhonda] “Oh, hello there. I am enjoying myself, thank you for asking.”

[Jim] “Good, good--”

**[Jim, Rhonda, and Carol continue to talk with Del but the news clip is now silent, a flash and the newspaper montage is back with a single headline, it is digital]**

_ BACK TO SCHOOL SHOCKER: Hillwood High School shut down on FIRST DAY!  _ **_[Click here to Read More]_ **

**[Carol appears in a new clip with Del and Jim, all three are seated in the newsroom, a video from a phone is paused on the screen behind them, it is a morning talk show]**

[Carol] “Coming to you with what promises to be our biggest story in recent months: PS 121 has been shut down after a  _ single _ day of classes. What happened? Well, the school quite literally began falling apart!” 

The video behind them takes up the entire screen and unpauses, it is from a cellphone and the video quality is poor. In it, an unidentified male student is speaking as he points the camera at the ceiling where a long crack is forming. He speaks in hushed tones, “There’s a CRACK in the ceiling and I just fu-- I just noticed it while I was walking back. It’s the first day back and this school is already going to sh--” The voice is cut off when the ceiling in the hallway in front of him collapses and the video ends. The newsroom is back and the three hosts look appalled. 

[Del] “God, this is quite the story, I’ll say that…" Del pauses, "Is that kid ok? I mean, can you imagine setting up in school for your first day back and this happens?”

[Jim] “Aha, yes he is. I had to have that checked, his name is Sidney “Sid” Monahan and he was the one who actually sent the video our way! Now if we could just watch that again for a second, I just want to see…”

**[The newsroom disappears and the video replays very quickly, more videos-- all are from the first day back in the high school and are taken by students and teachers who caught parts of the school breaking down before them. One last headline appears, then a fade to black]**

_ BACHMAN-ERROL HIGH SCHOOL DEEMED STRUCTURALLY UNSOUND, _

_ Is summer going to be a little bit longer for Hillwood’s teenagers and teachers? _


	2. Part I

**Part 1**

As she walked to her ‘second’ first day of school this year, Helga pondered her situation. She’d almost begun her junior year of high school with a head covered in drywall. That was from her first and only day at the new-and-improved Bachman-Errol High School before everyone was evacuated, checked for injuries, and then sent on their merry way home. 

The district kicked its feet for a few weeks thinking of solutions (‘dicking around’ shouted Bob Pataki one night, already tired of having Helga around again during the day) before it decided to split the students and shuffle some more. So, on the 22nd of September the Patakis received a letter in the mail: PS 121 was closed for the time being, pending further action. The high schoolers would be a few weeks behind schedule but they had been redistributed to several older, smaller schools within the district. The closest converted high school to Helga would be PS 118 and that was where she would go.

“To think,” Helga thought, “that I’m going to spend my junior year in my tiny elementary school of all places.” PS 121 dwarfed PS 118, even before its renovation. Helga had run past her old school that week, it was smaller than she remembered, and a little worse for wear. It hadn’t been a functioning school since Helga had begun middle school but she was already at PS 121 by that point. Previously, the district had been using her old school for storage, occasionally lending it out to local businesses. Last Helga knew, a theater troupe tried to get semi-permanent residency in the old school theater. It hadn’t worked out.

Before she knew it, PS 118 was in Helga’s sight and when she was across the street from it she stopped, checked the time, and almost groaned. “I should’ve set off later in the morning,” she muttered despondently. She didn’t want to enter the building  _ too _ early and, seeing a nearby bench, Helga parked herself there. 

Almost as soon as she did she saw a short, messy-haired boy emerge from an alleyway near her. He wore a solemn expression and an equally solemn black coat. He did not acknowledge her but he did speak, looking directly at the school. 

“The places our stories begin always have a way of drawing us back somehow. Perhaps this is meant to be.”  Then, dropping his voice, he uttered, “Sometimes we must return to our roots to grow into something stronger.” It was almost poetic. Helga narrowed her eyes, did she know him? Without warning, the boy whipped around. He did not acknowledge her and Helga thought she might as well have been a ghost. He sucked air in before leaping onto the bench and standing next to her, his arms reached towards the sky. He continued the speech, louder than before.  “I have returned, PS 118. Your hallowed halls will know me  _ once more _ .” 

Such a grand and dramatic declaration was deserving of a well-timed thunder-clap, maybe a stiff breeze to ruffle his hair and coat. But there was only Helga. 

“Christ al-fucking-mighty, what side of the bed did  _ you  _ wake up on?!” She muttered. The boy registered Helga for the first time, he stared at her open-mouthed. Helga stared back. While he got down from the bench Helga ran through a mental checklist. Who was he? 

1\. A Flair for the dramatics.

“Well, this is awkward.” The boy said as he pulled out a pair of glasses and started cleaning them, “I did not think there would be any witnesses around this early.”

2\. A Secretive nature. 

The boy narrowed his eyes, “You won’t tell anyone will you? It would give away my plan too soon, you see.”

3\. Paranoid and questionably sane.

4\. Likes to monologue. 

He put the glasses on and like a switch had been flipped,  Helga knew who this was and she almost wanted to laugh,  _ almost _ , at the idea that the first person she would see back at PS 118 was him.

“I see you haven’t changed at all, Curly.” Helga stated.

“How do you know that name? Who are you to speak it? Who are you?” Curly pointed a finger at her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Criminy, did you get worse or have you always been this way?" A beat."It’s Helga. Helga G. Pataki. Remember?” Another beat of silence before recognition dawned on him. 

“Oh. Helga? Helga. Helga! Helga Geraldine Pataki. Oh, I remember you. It has been a number of years has it not. Seven, to be exact. Seven long years…” Curly repeated that last bit under his breath, looking off in the distance. 

“Right,” Helga responded, unimpressed. What a strange, strange boy. Curly sat down on the bench and said nothing else to her, which frankly suited Helga just fine-- she was not much for talking these days-- and they waited. The first bus arrived some minutes later and Helga huffed. _Now or never, Pataki._ Ignoring the students coming off the bus, Helga approached the doors, squared her shoulders, and entered P.S. 118 for the first time in seven years. 


End file.
